Two-thirds of U.S. principals say that more than a third of their students are from disadvantaged homes--far more than in any other country. Yet data on actual students’ lives suggests the real rate is lower. What gives?

In a handful of statehouses and universities across the country, a few farsighted Americans are finally pursuing what the world’s smartest countries have found to be the most efficient education reform ever tried.

About Amanda Ripley

Photo credit: Brooke Bready

Amanda Ripley is the author of The Smartest Kids in the World--and How They Got That Way, a New York Times bestseller, and The Unthinkable. She writes feature stories for Time Magazine and the Atlantic and speaks on various topics, including global competitiveness, education and parenting.